Yeah its very simple.Many game companies actually do usual business by acquiring a license from a franchise, like say James Bond, and then they do a game for it, like 007: Blood Stone.

So a license like that costs money (MAY sometimes also include revenue sharing) and game companies do this sometimes because you already have an audience: people that like 007 might buy the game. So they invest the money and hope that the name is good enough. Some license may be cheaper than others of course.

Yeah its very simple.Many game companies actually do usual business by acquiring a license from a franchise, like say James Bond, and then they do a game for it, like 007: Blood Stone.

So a license like that costs money (MAY sometimes also include revenue sharing) and game companies do this sometimes because you already have an audience: people that like 007 might buy the game. So they invest the money and hope that the name is good enough. Some license may be cheaper than others of course.

No, Its not impossible but you might get sued if they find out about your game. No offense but chances are they'll never find out about it or even know it exists.

Yeah, true.

Also, if your a casual guy - they probably won't sue because it makes them look like an incredibly evil organization. Typically this is why a lot of people get away with just a warning when they pirate stuff.

How many people would support Lion Head Studios if they sued a 16 year old kid (or is parents) for much more than everything they have.

The worst they'll do is tell your to remove the game (but they probably won't)

No, Its not impossible but you might get sued if they find out about your game. No offense but chances are they'll never find out about it or even know it exists.

Yeah, true.

Also, if your a casual guy - they probably won't sue because it makes them look like an incredibly evil organization. Typically this is why a lot of people get away with just a warning when they pirate stuff.

How many people would support Lion Head Studios if they sued a 16 year old kid (or is parents) for much more than everything they have.

The worst they'll do is tell your to remove the game (but they probably won't)

I see. I wonder the laws in my country, Brasil... I mean, i cant be sued if theres a law in USA but not in my country, right?

Well, i guess i will wait the year of 2050. When The laws will be better.. Hopefully.

There is a better solution: create an "original" game without copyrighted contents. There are tons of materials, models, samples, ... that you can legally use for free. You can create your own ones too. Why do you absolutely want to use copyrighted contents without the prior authorization of the copyright owners? Brazil signed the Bern convention; therefore, you can't use star wars artworks. Sega contacted me once because a computer artist had given me a model coming from "Alien", the guy just asked me to remove this model from my game. You still risk prosecutions even though your game is free of charge.

I'm not a big fan of copyright but I respect the right of paternity (the attribution), I consider that the artist should have to decide under which license his contents are and I don't like people who want to use for free things whose creation costed some money. I don't like people who want to benefit of the fame of something or someone without the efforts. I gave 10 € to the guy who maintain bbbike.org, nobody forced me to do so, I did it because the maintenance of a server isn't free of charge and his maps are useful for me. I'm just grateful. I don't mind people telling me my game is ugly, I accept starting with unpleasant models. Can you just accept this idea? We aren't all good both in programming and in computer graphics with modelers.

Well, i guess i will wait the year of 2050. When The laws will be better.. Hopefully.

There is a better solution: create an "original" game without copyrighted contents. There are tons of materials, models, samples, ... that you can legally use for free. You can create your own ones too. Why do you absolutely want to use copyrighted contents without the prior authorization of the copyright owners? Brazil signed the Bern convention; therefore, you can't use star wars artworks. Sega contacted me once because a computer artist had given me a model coming from "Alien", the guy just asked me to remove this model from my game. You still risk prosecutions even though your game is free of charge.

I'm not a big fan of copyright but I respect the right of paternity (the attribution), I consider that the artist should have to decide under which license his contents are and I don't like people who want to use for free things whose creation costed some money. I don't like people who want to benefit of the fame of something or someone without the efforts. I gave 10 € to the guy who maintain bbbike.org, nobody forced me to do so, I did it because the maintenance of a server isn't free of charge and his maps are useful for me. I'm just grateful. I don't mind people telling me my game is ugly, I accept starting with unpleasant models. Can you just accept this idea? We aren't all good both in programming and in computer graphics with modelers.

Oh its ok.But you got the wrong idea from me.I really love star wars. And if i could make my own game of it, would be awesome. But hey, since i cant its okay.I was just checking the idea

When making a 'fan' game of an existing franchise, you're probably dealing with trademark laws.The thing is that if you have a trademark, you're actually legally obliged to defend your trademark. Failing to do so may result in losing the trademark.

So if if Lucas Films find out about your Star Wars fan game, they have basically no choice but to demand to at least take it offline.I wouldn't risk it.

On a more positive note, anyone noticed how 'spiritual successors' became a thing?The most high-profile 'spiritual successor' was probably Bioshock. They didn't make a sequel of System Shock 2 because they didn't have the rights to do so.So they exchanged outer space with under water, but essentially made a new System Shock game.You see, it's just a work around.

If you like the Star Wars universe so much that you want to make a game about it, why not make some changes to make it in the same spirit, but in an original setting.Featuring Dave Waterman with his little droid M1D1, saving the deep oceans of planet D3PA of the evils of Moss Dother (who turns out to be Dave's daughter). Or perhaps something more serious, but you get my drift

also game ideas aren't protected by copyright.so you can make a clone (which will transform into your own version / spiritual successor anyway in development)and then later just swap texture, models, sounds whatever

or just use free stuff from the get go

if you really want to do a star wars game you would have to join a company that has a license from disney or open one yourself and acquire one =P

btw, which game do you mean by "Star wars 1 pc (1999)" ? Do you mean the freaking phantom menace game ?

This will not answer the general question of making a fan game of a movie but if you are interested in making a Star Wars game you could make a mod/level for Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast or Jedi Academy using GtkRadiant.

Or just make a game for your own personal use.

I've been dreaming of my own SW game for years some day it will become a reality

This subject has been tackled before. I myself am working on a fangame of DooM, and I'm fully prepared to scrap the whole thing the instant I get even a stern look from the copyright holders.

Why not using some free models? FreeDoom has its own ones.

I'm making my own assets, but the characters and setting are still the same, even if cute-fied and somewhat partially a parody, and that still means I can be shut down.

The spiritual scucessor option is a very good idea. I myself originally set out to make a spiritual successor to the original DooM games, but decided to make a fangame first because I was getting lost in designing the new setting.

also game ideas aren't protected by copyright.so you can make a clone (which will transform into your own version / spiritual successor anyway in development)and then later just swap texture, models, sounds whatever

or just use free stuff from the get go

if you really want to do a star wars game you would have to join a company that has a license from disney or open one yourself and acquire one =P

btw, which game do you mean by "Star wars 1 pc (1999)" ? Do you mean the freaking phantom menace game ?

btw, which game do you mean by "Star wars 1 pc (1999)" ? Do you mean the freaking phantom menace game ?

haha yeahPhantom Menace game.

Idk, a license would cost like millions, right?

I actually do like that game, but it was pretty horrible and buggy Well that specific game was published by THQ I believe. But yeah every star wars game license would be pretty expensive.

But hey just make your own kinda game but take everything you like from that game. I dunno what we are talking about practically anyway: youwill not make a 3D star wars game by yourself, even if you were allowed to

also game ideas aren't protected by copyright.so you can make a clone (which will transform into your own version / spiritual successor anyway in development)and then later just swap texture, models, sounds whatever

or just use free stuff from the get go

Wait, so does that mean that this old game of mine is okay besides using some images from Google (that it does)? If so, that is surprising to me - I was always under the notion that because it used the name "Hunger Games" in its name it would be against something. I could always rename it anyway (can't rename the JGO topic, though, due to a weird bug with me posting too much in that topic), which if that then makes it copyright-resistant I would definitely do so.

yeha names are trademarked often times so you would have to use your own.but game concepts aren't subject to copyright.see zillions of racing games, sports games, shooters and stuff which are allll the same

Ah, okay. So if I were to rename it, get rid of all of the other stuff I don't necessarily have rights to, and remove download links for the versions where it had Hunger Games in the name would that be enough? GitHub would still have history of the code when it had Hunger Games in the name and a version of my website with download links with that in the name - could that still result in a lawsuit, or do I need to actively be displaying it at the time? If it could still result in a lawsuit, I guess I have to mess with my website's GitHub history and completely obliterate the old repository.

Ah, okay. So if I were to rename it, get rid of all of the other stuff I don't necessarily have rights to, and remove download links for the versions where it had Hunger Games in the name would that be enough?

You shouldn't have used these copyright contents since the very beginning of your project. Imagine that you create a great game, you pay to protect its name, you hire a computer artist to create some unique models, you try to sell it to earn some money. Would you be happy if someone else used your stuff for free without your prior consent? Don't do to others what you wouldn't like them to do to you. In my humble opinion, you should have asked for the authorization first. If I were you, I wouldn't be proud.

There are so much contents under free licenses, there are tons of unused available names, why do some people absolutely want to use trademarks and existing copyrighted models?

GitHub would still have history of the code when it had Hunger Games in the name and a version of my website with download links with that in the name - could that still result in a lawsuit, or do I need to actively be displaying it at the time? If it could still result in a lawsuit, I guess I have to mess with my website's GitHub history and completely obliterate the old repository.

I'm not a lawyer but I think it is ok if you simply remove any occurrence of the trademark from the trunk but not in the history. When I had to remove a copyrighted model from mine, Sega didn't demand the complete removal from the history.

I realize that I should never have used the copyrighted title, but the goal of the game was to make a video game version of a board game my friend and I created as a school book report on The Hunger Games, so I don't really regret it a ton. I wouldn't have made it with a copyrighted name in the title if it was just a game I thought up of. I am not proud of the game anyway because it isn't object oriented lol. Really all I need to do is rename it and remove images gotten from Google (not many, I think), which won't be that tough (the images I make will be horrible, but that's not a huge problem). It isn't based off of a video game and no art was stolen from the movie (I think 2 screenshots from the movie are there though ), which makes it easier. Thanks for letting me know about not needing to alter the history, that will help.

Ah, okay. So if I were to rename it, get rid of all of the other stuff I don't necessarily have rights to, and remove download links for the versions where it had Hunger Games in the name would that be enough?

Haven't played Hunger Games, so I can't say 100%, but generally yes. if you make like a 100% clone of space invaders with different assets, thats absolutely ok.

Doesnt matter. Cease and desists talk about current publication. Some history doesnt matter.

I should mention that a company might still TRY to stop you. IFFFF: hunger games is really unique, your game really emulates it, gets incredible popular AND the hunger games makers find it, they MAY try to stop you.But in general it would be unlawful and you may win.

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